Exercise – How Much Is Enough for Beginners?

If you have never worked out before, or haven’t in a very long time, some of the prescriptions out there for lengthy sessions at high intensity can seem rather intimidating.  So where do you start? How much is enough and how much is too much? Here are some general guidelines to get you started.

See Your Doctor

Absolutely, without question, the very first thing you should do is to speak with your doctor about how much exercise is right for you specifically before you begin on any fitness plan.

If you’re not used to exercise of any kind, a good starting point is a 10-minute walk each day. That’s enough to begin getting into the habit of setting aside time and it starts to get your body used to a little more regular movement.

Since the Federal Government of the United States recommends you exercise for a minimum of two-and-a-half hours per week in order to reap the health protective effects of exercise (against things such as diabetes, heart disease, some forms of cancer, etc.), you’ll need to work up (gradually) from there. Add one minute every day or every second day after your first week until you are walking 20 to 25 minutes at a time.

Slowly Increase

If You've Not Done Much Exercise, a Good Starting Point Is a 10-Minute Walk Each Day

If You've Not Done Much Exercise, a Good Starting Point Is a 10-Minute Walk Each Day

Since walking is something the body was designed to do, you don’t have to take a day off if you are comfortable with that schedule. If you want to take a day or two off each week, keep adding a minute until you are up to 25 to 30 minutes each day so you can reach that 2.5-hour minimum.

Once you are getting the recommended two-and-a-half hours per week, pick up the pace. Each week, try to walk a little farther than you were walking the week before, in the same amount of time.

If you have joint problems, it’s worth considering either a treadmill (which usually have a bit of ‘give’ so are less wearing on joints) or an exercise bike (which takes some of the direct load-bearing off your joints).

Up The Intensity

After a few weeks of working up to 20-30 minutes and of increasing the pace, you may then feel ready to move on to more intense cardiovascular workouts and perhaps try some other plans that you have read about or heard of. If you would prefer to continue walking, you can start adding intervals of higher intensity bursts into your workout.

Additionally, the U.S. federal guidelines recommend that adults do strength training two days out of each week. Personally, when I was working on getting into the groove of working out for the first (serious) time, I waited until I had been doing 25 minutes of cardio exercise each day for a couple of weeks before I began adding the weight training.

There are a number of reasons I think this is a sound idea (so long as you follow through with adding that strength training component and don’t just forget it – mark it on your calendar for 2-3 weeks from your start date to be sure).

First, if I overwhelmed myself with too many new activities, it would be harder for me to get into the habit. Second, as out-of-shape as I had been, my body needed some improvement on the cardiovascular front, which supports the muscles as well, before I could really begin to have the capacity to begin weight training in an effective way.

Finally, I think taking things in steps helped me summon more motivation. As I continued working upward toward a schedule that included both cardio and weight training, I had lowered expectations for results. I wasn’t constantly checking the effects the workout was having on my body or the scale because I didn’t feel it was in full swing yet and to measure it would have been unfair.

Measuring Progress

My progress was measured by whether I completed all my workouts that week and by how much closer I was getting to my goal of 30 minutes a day, as well as by how much farther I was able to walk than the week before in the same amount of time. Yet, the increased physical activity was indeed resulting in changes to my body so that, by the time it was time to add strength training, I was already starting to see physical changes from the extra calories I had been burning and I was noticing that I had better endurance during other everyday tasks.

It felt like I had results before I even got up to full speed and those results powered my motivation to continue, leading to even more results.

Even if you have never worked out beyond trying to fish the remote out from under the back of the couch, you can get started on an exercise plan that suits your current activity level. Don’t let yourself be intimidated by overzealous plans in magazines or anywhere else that would have you believe that you need to start with an intense regimen.

Start from where you are and soon you’ll find yourself in the middle of a complete fitness program, without shocking your system or your schedule.